


When the Evening Shadows and the Stars Appear

by IchikaAkiyama



Series: AoT x OC [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Blow Jobs, F/M, Fingering, Fluff and Smut, Oral Sex, Other, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Sex, Smut, Vaginal Fingering, it's the night before the wall maria siege which means IT'S TIME TO D-D-D-D-DICK DOWN, she/they pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:07:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28212126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IchikaAkiyama/pseuds/IchikaAkiyama
Summary: Levi didn’t join the Scouts for any sort of altruistic goal or fantastical dream. He didn’t even join with some sort of drive to save humanity. He’s not even sure sometimes if it’s the reason he stayed. He’s not sure sometimes if it’shisreason at all, or if it was someone else’s, given to him to believe as his own.And if that’s true, if that’s not his reason, then whatis?He looks up; he’s back at the barracks. There are people still milling about despite an earlier command to head to bed, enjoying their night of celebration with drinks, food, each other. But he doesn’t see any of them. He looks up, looks ahead, and sees Haydn.
Relationships: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Original Character(s)
Series: AoT x OC [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031928
Kudos: 4





	When the Evening Shadows and the Stars Appear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fruwtjuice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruwtjuice/gifts).



> Thank you for stopping by to read this fic!
> 
> I've written this for one of my best and most favorite friends, whose OC has already also appeared in my other two AoT fics. This fic is a sort of side-story to the main Erwin/OC fic that I've been writing. 
> 
> I've been so excited to write this for a long time now! Took me a while as well to write it, but it's here now and I only hope that my friend and you all enjoy it! There will be more of these two in my other AoT fics, both existing and planned, so if you enjoyed them here, you can look forward to more of them!
> 
> As a reminder, Haydn Brooks is nonbinary and uses SHE/HER _and_ THEY/THEM pronouns, and as such, I've used both sets of pronouns interchangeably throughout the fic.
> 
>  **CONTENT TAGS/WARNINGS** : A bit of praising, use of a pet name, but otherwise vanilla.  
>  **DISCLAIMERS** : Usual ownership disclaimers apply.

“There’s more out there, though - the sea! Remember? A body of water so big that merchants could spend their whole lives and still not get all the salt out?”

Hidden behind a niche down an alleyway, Levi sighs quietly to himself. He had known, as soon as he'd heard their voices coming his way, that the peace and quiet he’d found would be disrupted, but did it _have_ to be with _more_ blabber about things he couldn’t see? First, Erwin with his obsession with the truth, with that fucking cellar. Now, Amrin with ridiculous, grandiose notions of the world beyond. Rivers of flame, fields of ice, giant rocks that take days to climb..Levi doesn’t get it, any of it. Isn’t it more than enough that they live long enough to see another morning?

“I joined the Scouts so I could see all those things someday!”

 _Good grief_. NOt only does he look a little like Erwin, he even thinks and talks a little like him too. Always looking far too forward to propel themselves ahead at any cost. Not enough thought for the here and now, for the battles that need to be won tomorrow first before they can even think about the futures they want.

Then again, could he really blame them?

_“We humans are all the same, every last one of us...All of us had to spend our lives drunk on something, else we’d have no cause to keep pushing on.”_

The cellar. The sea. The truth. Beyond. It keeps them going. It’s why they’re here. It’s why they'll be there tomorrow.

But what about himself? What does _he_ have? What is _he_ drunk on?

Levi didn’t join the Scouts for any sort of altruistic goal or fantastical dream. He didn’t even join with some sort of drive to save humanity. He’s not even sure sometimes if it’s the reason he stayed. He’s not sure sometimes if it’s _his_ reason at all, or if it was someone else’s, given to him to believe as his own.

And if that’s true, if that’s _not_ his reason, then what is?

His tankard empty, Levi stands up, thoughts stil racing, trying to reach into every corner of his brain for some sort of answer. _Surviving_ suddenly doesn’t seem enough. _Winning_ doesn’t feel deep enough. Before the Scouts, those words had meant something else, but the principle Underground had been the same above. Make it to the next day, then take it from there. That’s not a dream or a goal, that’s just _life_ as he knew it. Routine. It doesn’t feel as enough as Erwin’s goals or Armin’s dreams.

Some half-drunk MP walks past him with a gigging girl on each arm. A bunch of little kids play with a ball outside until someone’s mother calls her son in and sends his playmates home. A pair of cats chase each other until the other catches up and pounces. Somewhere on an upper floor, a couple is yelling at each other. Elsewhere, an elderly man plays chess with his friend on their front porch.

 _What are_ they _drunk on? Tomorrow? Tonight? The next week? The next month? How far ahead are_ they _looking?_

He looks up; he’s back at the barracks. There are people still milling about despite an earlier command to head to bed, enjoying their night of celebration with drinks, food, each other. But he doesn’t see any of them. He looks up, looks ahead, and sees Haydn.

It’s as if Haydn feels him looking - they stop mid-conversation with Kai and give him a small smile. Kai sees him too, and seems to take the opportunity to leave; Levi can guess where to, after what he heard happened that morning. When Kai goes, it feels like she takes everyone with her. It’s suddenly very quiet, the hallway seemingly empty. There’s only moonlight streaming through the windows, faint candlelight flickering as wicks begin to dwindle, and Haydn, standing a few feet away from him, watching him almost curiously.

“Levi?”

Her voice seems to propel his feet forward, towards her, seeking her out as if this is where he’d meant to end up all along. Before he knows it, his hands are around her shoulders, pulling her to him, and he’s kissing her. She gasps, but responds.

 _This_ makes sense. _This_ feels like some sort of statement, an answer. But is it the right question?

“You busy?” he asks them.

Haydn stares at him, wide-eyed and a little flushed. “N-no,” they reply, if a little uncertain.

Levi takes her wrist. “Good. Come with me.”

_I can’t see past tomorrow. I don’t know what the day after that will look like. I don’t know what the sea is, I don’t know what’s in the basement. AlI know is what’s here, now. This. Them._

_Maybe this is…_

His room is close, dark, empty, private. The bed barely gets used. He realizes fleetingly that Haydn has never been here when she asks, “Where are we?”

He replies by kissing her again, her face in his hands, his fingers in her hair. Hers clutch at his shirt as she kisses him back, still unsure. He deepens the kiss then, letting her know it’s okay, that she’s here and so is he.

“...Oh,” they say with a small laugh when Levi pulls away.

Levi brushes stray strands away from their face, can’t help himself from staring. He knows this face, knows their smile, the way their eyes crinkle slightly at the sides when they laugh, the way their ears turn red when they’re angry or annoyed, knows every freckle on their cheeks like a map of the night sky. Is this what he’s drunk on? Are _they_ what pushes him forward? He has to know for sure.

“I want you,” he tells her simply, “Right now. You okay with that?”

Haydn’s eyes widen, her jaw falling slack slightly as she stares in either confusion or shock, Levi can’t tell. “I-yes,” she replies, swallowing a little thickly.

“Are you sure?” Levi asks, “Do you trust me?”

 _I have to know_. 

Haydn nods, eyes glistening up at him in the dim light of the evening.

He kisses her then, sweet and gentle, as if a part of him is giving her one more way out if she so chooses. But with the way she’s clinging to him and sighing into his kiss, it doesn’t stay that way for very long. He pulls her even more flush against him, his tongue swiping into her welcoming mouth. He finds himself drawn to the warmth of her, needing to feel more of it the more he touches her. He tugs at her shirt.

“Off. All of it. I need to see you.”

Haydn stops, expression awkward. They worry at their bottom lip, fidgeting with the hem of their sleeve.

“What is it?” Levi asks, concerned, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Haydn replies, “Yes, I’m fine, I just…” They seem to have trouble looking him in the eye, but they sigh. “Would you mind if I...If I didn't take _all_ of it off? Just...enough, I guess? It’s just...I’m not entirely comf-”

Levi puts a finger to her lips, shushing her. The moonlight is soft on her face, catching in the dips of her cheeks and her nose. She’s so pretty, he can’t help but think to himself, but the look on her face tugs hard at him, harder than he’s felt in a while.

“It’s okay,” he tells them, “I get it. You don’t have to explain. If you’re not comfortable, it’s fine.” And he means it. He hopes he doesn’t have to tell them for them to know.

Haydn relaxes; she knows. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Levi kisses her forehead, and she lets out a pleased hum.

“I do still want...you know,” Haydn says with an uncertain laugh, “I want this. _You_.”

Something bright settles in Levi’s blood then, blooming outward from somewhere in his chest to the tips of his fingers. “Then that’s enough for me.”

Haydn is the one to kiss him this time, and he can taste their relief in it, in the way they hold him. There is heat in their kiss, and Levi can’t help but drink it in as if he’s been starved for it all his life. When they tug at his shirt in a silent request, the moan that escapes Levi isn’t entirely voluntary.

He breaks away from her long enough to pull his shirt over his head. He doesn’t miss the way Haydn nibbles a little at her bottom lip as she watches him step out of his shoes and start to undo his pants.

“See something you like, Brooks?” Levi remarks, cackling an eyebrow at them.

“Not yet,” Haydn answers.

“Yeah? The leer on your face says otherwise.”

Even in the dim, he can see their cheeks flush. “I’m not _leering_ ,” they protest, turning away just as the last of Levi’s clothes fall to the floor.

“Nice try,” Levi snorts, stepping close to her again and putting a finger under her chin, “My eyes are _up here_.”

He doesn’t give them time to respond; his lips are on theirs again, and they can only gasp needily. He wonders briefly if they can feel his want, so pressed to him are they. Their hands move from his shoulders, down his chest, light and tentative. Levi waits to see how far they will let themselves go, but doesn’t have to wait long - although her touch is a little unsure, one hand finds his half-awake cock, closing around it slowly, as if testing how it might feel in their hand. When they give him an experimental stroke, it elicits a soft growl from him that makes him break the kiss, his eyes fluttering closed as his forehead touches theirs. Another stroke, and another, slow and snug from base to head, and Levi groans behind pursed lips. Both blood and focus rush to his cock in her hand, and as they continue to touch him, he struggles a little to stay in control of his impulses, to cling on to rational thought even by his fingertips.

“Haydn…” he breathes, but they ignore him, “Haydn...sweetheart…”

He thinks he hears a tiny whimper escape her. She finally stops, her eyes a little wide as she looks at him. _Good to know._ He takes a deep breath to calm himself a little bit.

“If you keep this up, I’ll…” he trails off, swallowing around the lump in his throat. Haydn chuckles at him quietly. “Come here.”

Levi takes their hand and leads them to the bed. He sits on the edge of it, his hands on their hips as he looks up at them. They have such a sweet, soft look on their face as they smile at him; he doesn't remember the last time anyone looked at them like that, or the last time he’s felt a smile like that stir something deep in his chest.

“My turn?” she asks, her fingers on his where he has unconsciously put them at the waistband of her bottoms.

“Only if you want to,” Levi assures them.

“I want to.”

Haydn slips out of their shoes and starts to undo their bottoms. Levi keeps his hands to himself as he watches. After their underwear comes off, they move on to their blouse. The first button, then the second, and a third...but they stop there, seeming to hesitate or think better of it.

Levi reaches up, takes her hands. “It’s fine,” he reminds her, “Only what’s enough,remember? You okay?”

Haydn sighs, maybe to steady themselves again. “Yeah,” they reply, “I’m okay.”

“Good,” Levi breathes, “Come here.”

His hands on their face, he pulls them to him for another kiss, hungrier, deeper. She moans when his tongue finds her mouth again, and Levi thinks he could listen to her make sounds like that for the rest of his life and never tire of them or her.

It’s his turn to let his hands explore; they travel down their neck, across their shoulders, stopping to cup at her breast above her shirt. She sighs when he spares her squeeze or two before moving lower, fingers splayed as his hands run down her sides, circling her thighs. When he runs his fingers up underneath her shirt, he stops,breaking the kiss.

“Can I?”

Haydn’s chest heaves with their heavy breathing, their lips kiss-swollen, their cheeks flushed, their eyes dark. They nod.

Levi moves slow, dragging their shirt up where the hem catches on his wrists. “You can stop me if it’s too much,” he lets them know, indicating more than just how much of their body they’re comfortable showing. Haydn says nothing as his fingers trace along their belly until his thumbs find her center.

 _Shit_. “You’re fucking wet, Haydn,” he breathes, thumbs runing along her damp folds. He gives her bud a testing press, making her gasp, her hand flying onto his shoulder in reflex. His other hand searches between his lips until his middle finger finds the dip of her entrance. Levi watches her jaw fall slack and her eyelids slide shut as he slowly slips his finger in. The moan she lets out sounds like it came from somewhere deep in her chest.

He’s never seen them like this. They’re gorgeous.

He withdraws from them, earring himself a tiny whine. He pushes himself backwards until he’s propped up against the pillows. He offers her a hand, and she takes it, climbing onto the bed, but when she stops at his side, he urges her over him instead. She blushes visibly, but goes, straddling his stomach.

Levi can feel their heat and need on his bare skin, can see them trying to keep themselves in check, almost as if waiting for him to tell them what they can do. Their obedience to him, even - especially? - in this is delicious, addictive. He feels his hardness twitch in interest at the thought, the possibilities. For now, he returns his hands between their legs, his middle finger sliding inside again, getting him a pleased noise. He moves his hand at a slow but steady pace, his thumb keeping it up on their clit. Their eyes squeeze shut as they groan and mewl, while his finger curls deep inside them. He can feel them grinding a bit against his hand, but still trying to hold back. The sight of them like this is hotter than anything he might’ve imagined. But he can’t help but want to push them, to see how far they’ll let him go. How much they want to take. They always have responded so well to being pushed to their limits.

Levi adds a second finger, and Haydn gasps, their back arching, pushing them even more onto his hand.

“Ah, fuck…” Haydn breathes, “Levi...fuck…”

“Keep going,” he urges, “You’re doing so well for me, sweetheart.”

She whines high-pitched at the pet name, her body bucking for more. Levi matches the sound with one of his own when he feels her tighten slightly and throb around his fingers. Before he knows it, he gives her more, moving his hands deeper, faster, his thumb working her clit more. His other hand grips her hip, wordlessly encouraging him to take her pleasure from this, from him. Whensh lets him guide her movements, her body rolling on top of his, it punches out a labored sigh of “ _Fuck_ ” from somewhere deep in Levi’s chest. As her pleasure grows, she moves faster, more desperately needy. Her fingers grip his shoulders as she begs him in broken sounds and incoherent phrases, and her ragged voice goes straight to Levi’s cock. He feels himself buck against her in response.

“Levi…” Haydn whimpers, “...Fuck...Levi, _please_ …”

The sound Levi makes is loud and rounded, somewhere between a growl and a moan, His hand is around her throat and it makes her gasp, heat and blood coloring her cheeks. He uses his grip on her to pull her face to his for a searing kiss. Levi hisses when Haydn nips at his bottom lip. A hand around his wrist encourages him to tighten his fingers around their neck a little more. He can tell they’re close when he feels them beginning to spasm on their fingers.

“That’s it, give it to me,” Levi all but orders through gritted teeth as Haydn’s grinding intensifies, “Come on, you’re so good for me, come for me.”

Haydn’s hand goes from one of his wrists to the other, as if trying to push even more of his hand into their quim. It doesn’t take much longer for them to come, his name leaving their lips in an almost-screech as their cunt clamps and relaxes erratically around his fingers. He isn’t immune - his body thrusts, his cock twitching in the cold night as if seeking contact.

Levi watches Haydn’s expressions as rapture takes over her, realizes he’s already committing each one to memory as if he hadn’t already seen them in his most unguarded dreams. He’s certain he’s heard these moans and whimpers from her before, the needy breathless pleas of his name seem familiar to him, yet still definitely new sounds he’s bound to not forget for a long time. The taste of her when he sucks his fingers clean of her, he knows that too, or could swear he does, as if this isn’t the first time he’s had her like this.

Haydn’s body heaves as they try to calm themselves with deep breaths, small giggles escaping them as tiny aftershocks catch her by surprise. Levi’s hand finds its way under their shirt, up their stomach and around their clothed breast. An almost inaudible mewl from Haydn is followed by them reaching around behind them to undo their bra. Levi’s hand slips underneath the loose cloth, and he sighs at the feel of her pebbled nipple nestled in his palm. His hand stays there even as Haydn maneuvers the garment until they’ve removed it and tossed it aside without removing their shirt.

“You alright?” Levi asks them as they grin softly down at him. He hopes he’ll never tire of that smile.

“Yes,” Haydn replies, “Been a while since I…” Her ears turn a little red.

Levi makes a valiant effort to stop the smirk spreading across his face. “How long?”

Haydn turns even redder. “God, don’t ask me that,” she pleads, “I’m not ashamed of it, I just...No one ever really appealed to me until -” She stops herself short, unable to look Levi in the eyes.

“...Until?”

“...Until you.”

Something selfish in Levi grabs at that greedily, plastering it all over his thoughts. “ _Come here_ ,” he growls, not waiting for an answer before kissing her, “I’m not done with you yet.”

“No,” Haydn breathes, “I hoped you weren’t.”

Levi can only watch as they make their way down his body, leaving kisses on his neck, collarbone, chest as they go. When their hand closes around his cock, it pushes out a groan from the back of his throat. A lick from base to tip has him sighing needily, and then the wet heat of her mouth as her lips close around the head and moves lower makes him moan fully. They waste little time, swallowing their cheeks as they move on him at a steadpace, a fist stroking what their mouth can’t cover.

“God…” Levi sighs, a hand brushing through their hair, “Holy shit, Haydn.”

He feels her moan around his shaft when he says her name, so he does it again. The slight vibration it sends through him is almost oddly addicting. He tries to stop himself from thrusting up into her mouth, but every second that his cock spends in there makes it harder to keep resisting.

“Ohh, _fuck_ ,” he grinds out when he feels their teeth drag lightly along his dick. His head falls back against the headboard, and his fingers tighten in their hair a little. Haydn takes it as a cure to suck a tad harder,more insistently, trying to take more of him in. The sensation of their tongue licking where he’s slightly more sensitive has his body twitching past the control he’s doing his best to hold on to. Her fingers dig into the flesh of his thigh, making his hips jump slightly, needily.

“Fuck, Hay-” he gasp when their mouth moves even lower, “ _Shit_ . Come up here, I don’t know if I can - _fuck_ \- hold out any longer.”

But Haydn pays him no mind at first. She instead bobs her head quicker, strokes her hand tighter, twisting as it moves. Levi lets out a sharp curse, her disobedience a surprising jolt of arousal to him. He grabs at her shoulder and her throat, tugging enough to make his intent clear. WIth a whimper of protest, Haydn does let him go. When she looks up at him, eyes shadowy and lips swollen, another bolt of hunger shoots through him.

“You little _brat_ ,” Levi hisses, not as venomously as he sounds, “Getting greedy. Do as you’re told.”

Haydn bites their lip, as if considering continuing their defiance, but they go anyway. They crawl up Levi’s body to kiss him, and he grabs at their hips to have them right where he wants them. Their kiss breaks when Haydn groans at the feel of him sliding slowly into their heat. Their hand on his shoulder tightens as she takes more of him in, but Levi can only focus on their face and the feel of them on him at last. How had he not known he’d been needing this? Needing _them_?

They feel fucking immaculate. Hot, wet and snug on his cock as he bottoms out inside them, their legs quivering on either side of his body. They touch their forehead to his as they pant, seemingly overwhelmed by the moment themselves.

“You okay?” Levi asks up at her, a little surprised to hear himself as ragged as she.

Haydn kisses him, a hand in his hair. She swallows, exhales. “Move,” she sighs, “ _Please_.”

They beg so prettily, he can hardly deny them now. His hands on their hips, he starts to grind into and against them, slow at first, letting them settle and get used to the feeling. The sounds they’re making are soft, if colored by their lust. But then Haydn starts to move as well, bearing down as they try to match his rhythm. The feel of them tightening around him seems to destroy even more of Levi’s resolve for control. He bucks quicker, harder into them, surprising a gasp from them that goes straight through Levi.

His own moans begin to mix with hers as they rock together, hands touching wherever and whatever they can. They find a pace that feels like a hungry competition and a greedy back and forth to see who can unravel the other first. But when Levi grabs at Haydn’s hips to hold them still as he fucks up hard into her, she seems to let go of competing long enough to let him do with her what he wants. What Levi wants to bottle all this up - her expressions, her noises, how it feels to be inside her - so he can take a hit of it whenever he wants. Impossible, of course, so he settles on trying to make this all last, wanting to milk this moment for all its worth.

The faint sound of their hips slapping against his as he thrusts into them starts to join in with their groans and cursing, and the heat between them and in the air around them has Levi feeling almost woozy with greed. He picks up the pace even more, and Haydn can do little else than to hold on to him, encouraging him with moans of “Yes” or “Please” or “Levi.” An orgasm hits them unexpectedly, and Levi shoves his cock all the way into them, letting out a growl at the feeling of them coming around him, on him, because of him.

Haydn is barely calmed when Levi rolls her onto her back, her legs hooked in the crook of his elbows as he slides into her again. He can feel the last remnants of her release with each inch, and it’s too easy to get caught up in it, in her. He looks down at her, sees her breathless, overcome, but smiling through the haze of her arousal and afterglow. He thinks he could let the world go to shit forever for a chance to always see this sight.

Levi tries to be gentler when he starts moving again, but with Haydn reaching up and caressing his cheek and stroking through his hair, his control doesn’t last too long. Their body rocks upward with each thrust, their nails rake down his back and their ankles lock around him, although they threaten to dislodge with his force. He’s more vocal than they are now, but he can still only hear them more than himself. What he hears just urges him on, makes it sound like they need him, want him, like only he can make them like this. It’s heady tonic, and he finds himself feeling drunk on it. On Haydn. And he can’t quite let go.

His orgasm is coming for him fast, and he can’t tell if he’s chasing after it or trying to outrun it a little longer. In his ecstasy, his arm shoots forward, hand grabbing at the headboard hard enough to make him think it could break. He feels Haydn pull him to them, and lets them hold him as they wish.

“It’s okay,” he hears Haydn say, “I’ve got you, I’ve got you right here. Oh _fuck_ , you still feel so good.”

“Son of a _bitch_ ,” Levi swears, all but pistoning his hips into her, his cock twitching inside her at his impending climax, “ _Fuck_ , Haydn, I...You’re... _fuuuuck_ …”

He kisses Haydn for all he’s worth, reveling in the way she sighs into his kiss, holds onto him in a way that feels both possessive and pleading. He tries to push at his limit for as long as he can, not wanting to lose the feeling of her all around him even as his rhythm starts to stutter, his voice catching in his throat as his cock throbs in skipped beats. He swears roundly when he can’t take it anymore, can’t keep it away anymore. He withdraws just before release hits. A few quick strokes and squeezes has him spilling onto her skin, on her thighs and onto her cunt. He shudders at the intensity of his finish, curses mixing with their name as white flashes behind his eyelids, the muscles in his arms, neck and back flexing taut as his desire overwhelms his hard.

Levi falls onto his back beside Haydn, breathing as hard as though he’s had a hard day out in the field. There are hazy bursts of color in his unfocused vision as he looks up at the ceiling and finds himself vaguely wondering how long. It’s been up there. Beside him, he hears Haydn just as weakened and fucked out as he, and one or two particular whimpers has his softened cock give a little jump or so in valiant attempts at more. The bad creaks as Haydn stands to find something to clean herself up with (the search unsurprisingly doesn’t take very long), and Levi’s vision clears again in time to see her standing by the bedside. Her hair is unruly, her skin is splotched with her blushes and his marks, her shirt is askew. She’s fucking beautiful.

“Come here.”

Levi reaches out a hand, and they take it, letting him pull them back onto the bed. He kisses them gently, if still a little hot, before pressing them to him, their back to his chest. They intertwine their fingers with his, and Levi realizes he can’t remember the last time his hand had been held like this. It stuns him into silence.

Haydn seems to sense it. “You alright?” she asks softly.

It’s enough to bring Levi back to the present, back to the very real hand in his own from an imagined one he probably can’t chase down. “Yeah,” he tells Haydn, “M’good. You?”

“I’m peachy,” Haydn replies, snuggling into him as they settle into silence. The longer the silence holds, however, the more he feels Haydn has something more to say.

“Levi?” Haydn starts, “What’s...what’s going to happen tomorrow?”

Levi sighs, feeling as though tomorrow has just circled back to hit him like a full wall of bricks to the face. “You know what’s happening tomorrow,” he says, “We leave for the walls, hopefully make it there by sun up, we plug the holes, try to escape as quickly as we can, take out as many titans as needed, and come back home.”

Haydn lets out an odd sort of chuckle. “You sound so sure.”

Does he? “I’m not sure of anything,” Levi answers, “I don’t know if we’ll win tomorrow. I hope we do.”

“Do you think we will?”

It’s a valid question. What he hopes for and what he thinks aren’t always the same thing most of the time. “Hard to say,” he tells them truthfully, “Do you?”

Haydn takes a while to respond. “I’d like to,” they say eventually, “I’d like to come home after all that, see what’s next.”

There’s that concept again. “And what is ‘next?’”

Haydn turns enough to look back at him. “I don’t know,” they answer, “More of you? _With_ you?”

Hope lights her eyes up, shining in the evening dim. She reaches up, touches his lips feather-light.

“...Sure,” Levi says, “Is that what you want? Is that enough?”

Haydn smiles gently. “It’ll get me through tomorrow.”

Levi feels something clutch and clench inside his chest. For a brief second, flashes of dust, fire, blood and death cross his mind, giving him pause. But then Haydn grins again, and the scenes change to a tired but fruitful victory march, to relief and release, to more evenings like this and mornings next to Haydn.

 _It’ll get me through tomorrow_.

“Yeah,” Levi says at last, “Me too.”

He kisses her, because he can’t seem to get enough. As she snuggles into his arms again, falling asleep within minutes, he knows now he never will.

<b>~ END. ~</b>


End file.
